This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Location services based on the location of mobile devices are becoming increasingly widespread. Assistance data for assisted navigation systems, such as GNSS, have been specified and standardized for cellular systems, e.g., global positioning systems (GPS), European Galileo, and Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS). An exemplary GNSS can comprise a network of satellites that broadcasts navigation signals including time and distance data. GNSS receivers pick up these broadcasted navigation signals and calculate a precise global location based thereon. Other examples of GNSS include, but are not limited to, satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), local area augmentation systems (LAAS), quasi-zenith satellite systems (QZSS), and hybrid receivers.
The delivery of such assistance data can be built on top of cellular system-specific control plane protocols including, e.g., the radio resource location services protocol (RRLP) for GSM networks, the radio resource control (RRC) protocol of layer 3 in wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) networks, and IS-801 for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, standardized in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and 3GPP2 standards. In addition, the control plane protocols also support RAN-specific positioning methods. Examples include Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD) in RRLP and Idle Period DownLink-Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (IPDL-OTDOA). It should be noted that assistance data as described herein, can refer to GNSS assistance containing, but not limited to, navigation models, time assistance, reference location, atmosphere models, differential corrections, sensor assistance and acquisition assistance. The assistance data can also include e.g. position information, high-accuracy position information, multi-frequency multi-GNSS measurement data, computationally-generated measurements, sensor measurements, route information and waypoint information.
Common features exist in a majority, if not all of the protocols including, but not limited to those described above for delivering assistance data. However, when differences arise, a terminal's software must either have an adaptation layer for the relevant protocols or is limited to supporting only some, but not all of the protocols. Additionally, whenever a new cellular system (e.g., networks using worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) technology or a standard such as the long term evolution (LTE) standard, a successor to GSM), is brought into use, a terminal must adapt to the specifics of that system/network as well.
In response to the above, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has defined a user plane protocol referred to as secure user plane location (SUPL) 1.0. SUPL employs user plane data bearers for transferring location assistance information such as GPS assistance data, as described above, for carrying positioning technology-related protocols between terminal, e.g., a mobile communication device and its operating network. SUPL is intended to be an alternative and, at the same time, a complement to the existing standards based on signaling in the mobile network control plane. SUPL assumes that a mobile or other network can establish a data bearer connection between a terminal and some type of location server. The use of a user plane protocol is especially appealing in the case of Internet Protocol (IP) networks where the data bearer is by nature, available.
It should be noted that OMA SUPL utilizes existing control plane standards whenever possible, and it is envisioned that SUPL will be “extensible,” thus enabling the use of additional positioning technologies so that different positioning technologies and/or systems utilize the same mechanism for transferring location assistance information.
Utilizing SUPL involves the wrapping of control plane protocol messages in order to move the signaling functionality of location assistance information from the control plane to the user plane, although SUPL is reliant upon the underlying system-specific control plane protocols. Moreover, the approach also moves the actual positioning from SUPL to the subprotocols. In order to complement the subprotocols, the SUPL also contains additions in the ULP (User Plane Location Protocol) layer to support, e.g., WLAN-based positioning.
In addition to the location protocols standardized in, for example, 3GPP and OMA, several proprietary assistance solutions have been developing in the market.
It is evident that, e.g., service providers or vendors, in the location business should utilize closed/proprietary solutions in order to gain an advantage and to differentiate themselves from competitors in the market place. The need for transmitting (e.g., delivering and/or transferring) non-standard assistance or location information currently implies developing a new proprietary positioning/location protocol from scratch. This is a result of the standardized solutions not offering a method(s) to complement content with vendor-specific items in a controlled manner. Developing a new protocol is time consuming, because in addition to protocol issues, authentication and security issues, for example, must be addressed. While the standardized solutions have already addressed these issues, their respective frameworks cannot be utilized. Moreover, from an implementation point-of-view, having a standardized solution (which typically must be supported in any case) as well as proprietary protocol results in the need to have two protocol stacks.